When former police detective Ted Conkaffey was wrongly accused of abducting Claire Bingley, he hoped the Queensland rain forest town of Crimson Lake would be a good place to disappear. But nowhere is safe from Claire's devastated father. Dale Bingley has a brutal revenge plan all worked out -- and if Ted doesn't help find the real abductor, he'll be its first casualty. Meanwhile, in a dark roadside hovel called the Barking Frog Inn, the bodies of two young bartenders lie on the beer-sodden floor. It's Detective Inspector Pip Sweeney's first homicide investigation -- complicated by the arrival of private detective Amanda Pharrell to "assist" on the case. Amanda's conviction for murder a decade ago has left her with some odd behavioral traits, top-to-toe tats -- and a keen eye for killers. For Ted and Amanda, the hunt for the truth will draw them into a violent dance with evil. Redemption is certainly in the cards -- but it may well cost them their lives...